Men Charged With Paying Homeless to Fight

S A N   D I E G O, Sep. 26 -- Prosecutors have filed felony charges against filmmakers who allegedly paid homeless men to beat each other for videotapes sold over the Internet.

The video, Bumfights: A Cause for Concern, portrays homeless men either fighting each other or performing stunts that often leave them injured.

Some subjects are pictured punching each other in the face, or stomping and pummelling each other until bloody.

Others are show injuring themselves by smashing their own heads through windows or crashing down stairs in a shopping cart. In one sequence, a homeless man is seen ripping out his front tooth with pliers. Another rams his head into a steel door.

Investigators say participants sometimes were paid for fighting with cash, food, liquor or hotel rooms.

Four young Las Vegas producers claim to have sold 300,000 copies of the tape at $20 apiece via the Internet.

Four Charged, With Two Being Sought

The film's makers — Zachary Bubeck, 24, Daniel J. Tanner, 21, and Michael J. Slyman, 21 — were charged Monday with conspiracy to solicit an assault with deadly force. The charge carries a maximum of three years inprison.

Ryan E. McPherson, 19, was charged earlier in the month with conspiracy and an obstruction of justice charge. He is accused of offering $25,000 each to two San Diego-area homeless men in exchange for their refusal tocooperate with authorities investigating a Feb. 6 fight on the videotape, said prosecutor Curtis Ross.

McPherson, of San Diego, and Bubeck, of Las Vegas, have pleaded innocent and were freed on bonds. La Mesa police are still seeking Slyman and Tanner, who are expected to surrender to a San Diego court this morning.

The charges were filed against the filmmaker after police detectives in La Mesa, Calif., a San Diego suburb, recognized two local homeless men, one of whom suffered a broken ankle during a fight.

After the homeless men were found, Lt. Raul Garcia said police were able to bring felony charges against the Bumfights producers.